The boy looked at it like it was a never-seen-before new species. He moved toward it for a closer look - examining its features.

"What is that?"

Charlie explained to his hockey teammate that it was an insulin pump and that he has diabetes.

The lanky 8 year old was stunned.

"Diabetes???"

A day earlier, the team was jumping on top of Charlie and chanting his name for scoring a dramatic tying goal with just seconds left in the game. The next day, Charlie scored three more.

"How can you be so good (at hockey) and have diabetes?"

Charlie just shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to say.

The boy was so amazed, he said it again.

"How are you so good and you have diabetes? You can’t even recognize it," he said.

He slid the orange ball into the netting with a twist of his hockey stick.

"Wow! You like ... can’t even recognize it."

It was a fair question. How can he be so good? Diseases are supposed to be debilitating. What kind of disease allows you to score lots of goals? What kind of bogus disease is this?

I love the unfiltered observations of a child. He was right. You can’t recognize it. He was no doubt referring to Charlie’s physical appearance. No noticeable limp or obvious deformities. It’s a behind-the-scenes disease. From an 8-year-old boy’s perspective, it’s like sitting down to a Thanksgiving Day feast. He has no concept of how much hard work and time goes into making the meal possible. He just knows it looks and smells delicious. Spend some time with Charlie – at home, at school. Stick around long enough and you’ll recognize what diabetes looks like.

You’ll know what we wish for when we snap the turkey's wish bone.